Business Week: Changes coming to the pharma salesforce
Jan/30/2007 07:17 Filed in: Pharma
Business
In every industry all marketing programs are being evaluated to determine their potential value for the brand and company. Even the glitzy "up front" promotional week in New York, where media buyers and big corporate people get a glimpse of upcoming fall TV shows, may be discontinued. Although some advertisers are willing to pay $2.6 million for a 30-second spot on the Superbowl others like P&G have decided that the price is too high and they can get a better return on their media dollars elsewhere.
As pharma moves into the next decades the model by which they sell and market their products is also going to have to change. A new younger crop of physicians is entering the workplace and these physicians behavior is much different that their older colleagues. They are aware that technology, such as PDA's, can help them save time and cut down on the maze of paperwork. They want to know more about new clinical trials and successful treatment profiles of other patients. They don't have time for programmed presentations from drug reps fresh out of school.
In a way this transformation will strengthen the industry. Pharma companies are going to have to invest in new technology and hire people who are more medical consultants than sales people so that they can successfully engage HCP's in a one on one meaningful relationship and share information that will strengthen the brand and company. Physicians have the same problem as most of us...we have gone from an age of too little information to too much information. Anyone that can provide them with the information that they are looking for will be seen as adding value, versus those people who come in to drop off samples and tissue boxes.
I saw this coming many years ago when, at Lilly, I observed sales people coming into our HQ's for training. Most were what I called "kids" fresh out of school and I thought to myself "how can they relate to a physician who maybe in his/her 40's or 50's and have a meaningful conversation?" Yes there was a time when it was about lunches for the staff and trips to top resorts for physicians but those days are gone. For a lot of pharma companies the future has arrived but the door is only now starting to open.
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